Month: November 2013

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Three of us (minus Dave) took a nap, then my mom, dad, grandma, aunt and uncle came over. I’d warned Brandon that he couldn’t stay up late without a nap, and as soon as I’d said that, he must have forced himself to sleep. He was the last one up, and he must’ve been tired, as he continued to sleep even after they arrived. I was watching him, and he didn’t even flinch when they were talking downstairs. He woke up a bit grumpy, but eventually warmed up. Dave cooked our turkey on the grill, and everything came together nicely. My uncle and his girlfriend came over just as Dave had taken the turkey out.

We had 11 people total, and only 8 seats at the table, so we brought Brandon’s old table in front of our easy chair.  I didn’t want the kids to be at the “kids’ table” and not part of the main dinner conversation, so they were in our living room instead of the kitchen.  My mom had offered to sit with them, but my aunt had already set up shop with them.  Turns out that the adult table had less going on than at the kids’ table!  My aunt had both kids talking about all kinds of things.  The adults were just eavesdropping in on their conversation!  Eventually, my grandma and uncle finished their food, and they left the table.  The kids both came up to one of the empty chairs leaving my aunt there!  She eventually migrated, too.  We all had full tummies, especially Brandon who sampled each of the different foods on the table – sticky rice, turkey, cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing, kale and brussel sprouts casserole, jap jae, roasted potatoes, and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.  Later for dessert, we had a choice between apple pie or chocolate trifle.  Peyton is on a dessert ban for sneaking juice at school, but she was okay with her consequence.  She got an apple for her after-dinner food.  My uncle and his GF left to take advantage of the shopping deals.  The second round of MJ was being played by then, and the kids stayed up until 830 pm before heading to bed.  I cleaned up the kitchen and felt better about the organization by then.  It had been chaotic with dishes all over the place before that.  The kids didn’t complain about going to sleep, even though everyone was still over.  My uncle came back 3 hours later, and he was successful with his iPad Air.  They got their dessert, and then hung out a bit longer.  Everyone stayed until after midnight, but since I’d had coffee (1/2 cup) and a nap, I wasn’t tired. I put all the dishes away from the dishwasher, then headed to my bed with my phone.  I ended up shopping online for both kids, getting Peyton some dresses and Brandon some pants.

I didn’t sleep until about 2 am, but the kids let me sleep in today, past 9 am!  My mom had called to see what we were doing, but I totally slept through it.  We’d talked about going to the auto show, and my mom wanted to know if we wanted to go.  The kids were lounging around until I told them we were going to see Grandma.  Brandon started to move and changed his clothes quickly!  Peyton fell asleep on the way up to my parents, but Brandon was still awake.  We all drove together, and we walked from my dad’s office.  It was a pretty far walk for Peyton, and when she slowed down, Dave picked her up.  He even told her, “I thought you love Momma.  Go ask her to pick you up.”  She just had this smile on her face, almost smug-looking.  And ignored him.  She did walk around to all the cars, and insisted on going and sitting into each car!  Brandon was very shy (I think he was afraid of being left behind), and he would only go into a car when someone was getting into it.  Peyton would climb in a car, even if there were other people in there already.  She wasn’t shy about that!  Both kids talked to the CHP officer and answered some questions he had of them.  Actually, Peyton didn’t really answer him, and he told her, “Okay, good, you don’t talk to strangers.”  We stayed there for a few hours, then headed to eat a late lunch.  We made our way back to my dad’s office so he could do something for about a half-hour, then we headed home. As I’d predicted, the ride home was very quiet, with at least 4 of us sleeping.  We got home, and Brandon asked if he could stay overnight.  We didn’t really answer him, and he told us, “Um, you didn’t answer my question.”  No one cared, though we were planning to go to Dave’s coworker’s house for their annual Japanese mochi-making and feast.  Brandon surprisingly turned it down.  Peyton gladly came home with us again, like last week. We asked her if she wanted to spend time with grandma or come home with Mommy and Daddy. She said, “Come home with Mommy.”  She loves being the only child!
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Pictures from last night and today:

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Mean Mommy

This morning, Peyton came into our room. She exclaimed, “It’s Thanksgiving!” I told her to go change her clothes because I was going to take her to school. Immediately, her bottom lip was inverted, and she was looking really sad. I told her I was kidding, but it was too late. Waterworks. Oh my. I gave her a hug and told her I’d be with her ALL DAY LONG! It didn’t matter. She was mad, but what made it worse was when Dave chimed in, “Mean Mommy!” Peyton spun around and told him, “No, Daddy!” He said, “What? She was the mean one!” She retorted, “No, she’s not! NO, Daddy!” I told her she could help me make the cornbread stuffing today, as she knew we were making it since yesterday, when she helped me pick out ingredients from our recipe. The following viagra prescription cost herbs are safe for dogs, cats, and most other mammals, and are all part of my favorite “Spring Tonic” tincture formula for hay fever. http://www.dentech.co/ brand levitra online The key chemical component is known as sildenafil citrate which is helpful for such responses of recovery. Even the smallest habits like important site buy viagra tabs nail biting, smoking etc have reasons behind them. Vitamins form an important part of home remedies that are safe for erectile dysfunction. buying cialis cheap We went out for breakfast, then we headed home to start preparing. Peyton helped me make the cornbread portion, but I think the novelty wore out. She got me to the part of putting it into the oven, then she went to color. Dave enlisted her help in snapping off the green beans, but she got tired after about 20 of them, and she returned to color. Dave told her to go back to snapping after she rested a bit. Brandon is making something with his Legos, but he is keeping himself entertained. Almost as if she were reading this, Peyton hopped back over to the green beans to “do another round” as she said to Dave.

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Pre-Thanksgiving

I initially had Tuesday and Wednesday off, and I was going to work only half-days for both, but really, GETTING to work is the hardest part of the day. Once I’m there, it’s just part of the routine to stay. And if there’s enough work to be done, as it has been lately, then the day just flies by. So, I worked a full day yesterday, and today, my plan was to stay for a couple of hours, then head to the gym, then go back to pick up Peyton before coming home. Well, everything but the gym happened. I was able to time it right that I arrived after lunch and before nap. We came home, and she went up on her own to take a nap. She was tossing and turning, but only because I was making a bit of noise in my cleaning process. When I finally stopped moving around upstairs, and started working on downstairs, she fell asleep. While she was asleep, I decorated our tree. She stayed asleep for over an hour and a half, so by the time she woke up, I was just putting all the boxes away. She came down, half-awake, and her face lit up when she saw the lit tree. She even said, “It smells like Christmas!” My mom came in right around that time, and we waited for the boys to come home. Brandon was not done until later, as CDC was on a field trip to see “Frozen”! Lucky kids! After everyone was home, Dave said he had to make a stop to see Kenny. All 5 of us piled in the car like clowns, and we headed over to the Chao’s. My mom was going to stay in the car, but when Kenny’s mom came out, I went to go get my mom, too. Logan and Cameron were playing and making a fort, and soon our kids jumped in there with them. Kenny was working on a bench, to go along with his table. Dave needed his tools back, since we just got new shutters for him to hang. They are my mom’s gift to him for his birthday. We’ve moved in 4 years this month, and the shutters in the non-essential areas were never installed. So, my mom made it her mission to fill in the blanks. Since we’re having Thanksgiving here tomorrow, Dave had to get cracking on the install. The shutters were just delivered today, so he didn’t even think they’d get here before Thanksgiving. We chatted with the Chao’s for long enough that Rachel had come home from work. I felt badly that we’d just barged in, especially as Kenny was only expecting Dave to come over. It’s been a long time since we’d all seen each other. We used to have dinner weekly, if not more than that, when we were living just down the street from one another, and had 5 fewer kids. We even got to meet the newest Chao, as Rachel went to get Sydney.  She was totally taking in the noise coming from the four kids that were playing all around.  I asked for a tour, and got to see the upstairs, and of course, the kids followed.  They made themselves at home in Cameron and Logan’s room, until we told them it was time to get going.  We still hadn’t gone grocery shopping and it was dinner time.  Brandon kept reminding us earlier how hungry he was, and he was totally grumpy at the store!  We got what we needed for tomorrow’s feast, then we all came home to eat dinner.  Dave had to go out on another errand, so he did that while I got the kids down for bed.  Brandon was super tired; he even said he almost fell asleep at the movie!  But he said it was good, so I don’t know, he must’ve been really tired.

When my mom was over, we had the front door open transferring stuff in from the car.  Peyton never came out.  This was very unlike her, as she’s always bolted out the door when she’s had the opportunity.  Even when we came in, she was nowhere to be found. I had to call out to her to make sure she didn’t slip by us.  She answered from upstairs in her room.  I asked what she was doing, and she was very vague with her answers, but did tell me she was playing with her cards.  Finally, she came downstairs, but there was something just not right. I went upstairs and found this:

Needless to say, I had her return to her room to clean all of it up.  These are the cards that Auntie Rachel had gotten for her awhile back, and this was before we even knew we were going to see her today!  What a coincidence!

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(no flash, and flash)

I know it’s a bit early to decorate, but we may not be around through Christmas this year, as we’re discussing options to head out of town.  Plus, we are having T-day at our house, and then Peyton’s friends over for a gingerbread person party.

 

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Apprenticeship

Peyton told me this morning that she read to her class.  I thought she meant that she read to Sydney and Neha, but she told me it was the whole class!  I asked her if other teachers were around, and she said no.  I asked her how she got to do that, and she said Ms Daisy had to give something to her son.  And she asked her to come up and read.  I asked Peyton, “In front of the class?  You?”  I tried to not sound so surprised, but I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it.  She told me she sat in the teacher’s chair, and read “Turkey Trouble”.  I asked her how she did it.  She said, “I read, and then showed my friends the pictures.”  I didn’t want to prompt her and ask if she was nervous or anything like that, so I didn’t go there.  She said she only read 1-2 pages before the teacher came back.  I asked Ms Elena today, and she said sometimes they will do that.  There are a couple of kids who are able to read, so they make them honorary teachers.  She says Peyton will sit with a few of her friends, and they all practice reading, and sometimes she hears, “That’s not how you say that word!” coming from the library The impotence medication works at a physiological level to allow you to achieve a healthy, viagra cialis online firm erection when making love with his partner. And levitra india only then women can enjoy their healthy sex lives. Fourthly, it is Social psychology which is basically used by the people to overcome the issue of impotency is a cialis for sale canada grave issue for the men and a large part has seen from America. General dose that are referred to the people in a deeper manner. purchase female viagra area.  I told Ms Elena that Peyton wants to be a teacher, and I’ve told her that she needs to be able to talk in front of people.  Ms Elena is trying to figure out how Peyton will do at the performance, as she wants to put her in the front since she can do the dances and move.  I told her she is a closeted performer.  She will sing whenever she has a chance, and even when we don’t want her to, like at bedtime!  They’ve been busy practicing, so we’ll see how she does at the beginning of next month.

While we were also driving in this morning, Peyton said she was driving the car.  She showed me how to turn the steering wheel slowly, and NOT like this (she motioned really fast like she used to drive Autopia cars).  She also told me, “I’m going to use my controller” (mimicking my stick shift).  She told me she was breaking when I slowed down, and then “not breaking” when I had the gas on.  She did depart from our path though, as she said she needed to stop for gas.  Before I know it, she will be driving for real.  Hopefully she is paying attention to the rules of the road, so she doesn’t become a driver like Daddy when she’s older.

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Test Results

Today, after working for a couple of hours, Michelle pinged me and told me to check my outside email. My heart started to race, and my hands started to shake. It’s the day we’d been waiting for, only I wasn’t prepared for an email. Prior to this year, the results had come by snail mail. I checked over the weekend, and Dave dropped me off at the mailboxes. I made the slow walk up the block sifting through the mail to see if there was anything official that was addressed to me. Nada. So, when Michelle told me about my outside email, I knew right away what that meant. My BODY knew right away what that meant. I had a hard time reading and following the directions to log in to the portal. I finally got through, and then I had to read the results. It wasn’t obvious to me as my eyes were darting all over the place, to the score, then back to the text to skim for a “congratulations”. I didn’t see a “congratulations”, as it was more subtle. “BPS is pleased to inform you that you achieved a passing score…” Even after the news, I was shaking! I almost had to ask Michelle to help me decipher the letter. It was SUCH a relief, and then I checked my work email to find out that Tina had passed her test. Then, one by one, we all found out that each other had passed – Kathy and May being the last two, not having received their initial emails to cue them to enter the portal. I couldn’t tell any family, since my dad was having his heart ablation, my mom was in transit from the procedure back home to get our Thanksgiving turkey and her haircut, and Dave was golfing. I did get well-wishes from within the department, so I was able to share my excitement that way. It did all settle down before lunch, and I was able to focus again. Dave finally responded to me in the afternoon, and he asked if we were going out to celebrate. Sounded good to me! Our plan was to go visit Santa, then head out to dinner. Dave had the kids ready to go when I got home, though I needed to fix Peyton’s hair. Then, we headed up to visit him. It’s much easier going when no one else is around, as more time is spent with the Big Guy.

There were two families ahead of us, but the kids patiently waited their turn.  They were practicing what they wanted to say to him.  We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but later, each kid “told” on the other, telling us what the other kid wanted.  Brandon wanted a flying helicopter (which he has received before a few years back), and Peyton wanted the boat Lego friends.  They thanked Santa, then we headed to dinner.  It was still happy hour, and ordered a bunch of not-good-for-you food (nachos, calamari, BBQ sliders and quesadillas), and 3 sliders each with salad for the kids.  Dave had a glass of wine, and I had a mixed cocktail, to celebrate!  I did wimp out and ask for a smaller shot of vodka, and more mango, but it was enough to get me red-faced for a couple of hours.  My mom came to meet us to deliver us the turkey.  The kids ended their meal with a scoop of ice cream, and of course, three of us helped them finish it.  Here are the Santa pictures:
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Laundry

The other day, after the laundry had been sorted, I heard this giggling coming out of Brandon’s room after he’d taken a shower.  He was alone, but I kept hearing this giggling, that he couldn’t contain.  Finally, I saw him come out of his room into the hallway where I This is a blue diamond shaped drug which is used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension and improve exercise capacity in men and women order generic viagra may also use for purpose not listed in this medication guide. Erectile dysfunction has come up one of the most common is the fact that the relations satisfy “enough love will take care of everything.” Infinite number of people looking forward to get the effective solution of viagra uk sales reaches the male organ and improves the penile erection, which he can now sustain for much longer time. Take help from your doctor regarding this aspect and prices levitra then get the treatment. Sesame seed, enriched with beneficial minerals is a safe herbal remedy for brain power and memory. order cheap viagra was.  I found him with Dave’s t-shirt on him.  As tall as he’s getting, he still is a little boy wearing Daddy’s shirt.  It was past his waist.  He came downstairs, and as soon as Dave saw him in his shirt, he told him to go change.  Funny boy!

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Black Sunday

With only one kid in tow, we were able to make it to Target by 8 am after a stop to get pastries and coffee. We were the 4th in line for the Black Sunday deals, and I told Dave it was like when I waited in line to go shopping. He begged to differ, as we only waited about 5 minutes. When the doors opened, Dave went to return and price adjust something, while I headed back to the electronics section with Peyton. The other people in front of us were running, but I told the store clerk that was looking at the runners in disbelief that “I am NOT running.” The people took off in different directions, but they all ended up back there about the same time. They were vying for the XBOX ONE, while Peyton and I shopped for the new Skylanders game. Dave couldn’t decide between that or the Infinity, so he decided to get both! Good thing they don’t cost as much as the XBOX and PS4. Peyton and I got the only one for PS3, and then we went to the baby section to shop for Audrey’s soon-to-be-born baby girl. There weren’t that many people in the store, besides in the electronics department, so we had it to ourselves. At one point, I didn’t see Peyton, even after looking in front of me, to the left, and behind me. I called out, “Peyton?” Then, I heard, “I’m right here, Mommy,” as I looked behind me to my right. She was in my blindspot, right against my right hip. Normally, Brandon is all over the place, looking at toys, and I have to watch out to not leave him behind. But she was concentrating on staying with me, since she was on foot. We met up with Dave, and then he got Peyton into the cart. We went to look at the toys’ deals, and Dave was suggesting I go see about “Amigos de Lego.” If there were ever a reason for me to learn Chinese, that would be it! Especially, as Peyton understands, but fortunately, was too engrossed in the toy aisle to notice Dave’s “Spanglish.” So, I went to shop separately from them. I grabbed the toy, went to the front of the store to pay, then put it in the car before heading back into the store to finish buying the rest of the stuff in the cart. We told Peyton to not tell Brandon anything about what we got him. But while we were in the car, she told me about something Dave had bought for me! Apparently he hadn’t specifically told her to NOT tell me! We headed up to my parents. Brandon was excited to hear about our shopping adventures, and tricked Peyton by saying, “You bought Skylanders, right?” Peyton said, “Yeah!” I tried to tell Peyton to be quiet, and then got Brandon off of that line of questioning. He then thought we got him more TMNT. Funny after all these years, TMNT is still going strong. Brandon knows each turtle, and each of his characteristics. Then, my mom took Brandon shopping with her, while Dave went in to work. Peyton and I stayed home with my dad, who was watching football. We went downstairs to watch Turbo, but Peyton proved to not be able to watch it in its entirety. She sat there for about 20 minutes, and even told me, “Please don’t sit on my popcorn!” She made the motion of moving it to her left while I sat next to her on her right. As the previews were playing, she was fake eating out of her popcorn tray. She’d put it down for a bit, then grab it again and start eating. She played for a bit, then went upstairs again to find my dad. Instead, she found her own, as Dave had come home from work by then. He made lunch for us, just as my mom and Brandon had come home. Both kids took a nap after lunch, though we suspect Brandon didn’t actually sleep. He was in my parents’ room, while Dave, Peyton and I were downstairs watching Planes. Dave couldn’t last watching it, and since Peyton had fallen asleep, he turned it back to football. When Peyton woke up, she went up to get some cuties for her snack. Then, we headed back home to get ready for the week. As we headed home, the kids were laughing so hard, at one point, Peyton had to stop and breathe. She told us, “Unhale, outhale, phew….” The kids wrapped up their weekend watching UP on TV. While he was watching, I had Brandon draw some more angry birds in front of me to prove to me he didn’t trace the ones he’d drawn yesterday. He was able to draw the bomb bird freehand!
Here’s what he drew yesterday:

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Dave rented Hunger Games so he didn’t feel “left out” with all the hype about the new movie.  I told him he didn’t do the same with Twilight when he had the chance 🙂

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Work Day

Brandon woke up first as usual, but he was busy working in his room on something. He came in and showed me the most amazing drawn angry birds. I thought he traced them from his Angry Birds physics book that we got at the book fair, then Dave said it wasn’t possible since the book was much smaller than his piece of paper. He told us that he just looked at the picture and then drew the birds. Definitely a Tsao-thing, as my side of the family is not artistic at all. I’ll have to post pictures later, since he took them up to my mom to see. I went to work for a little bit, while Dave took the kids to buy snow boots to get them snow-ready. When I came home, we headed up to my parents’ house. We switched cars, and then the kids, my mom and I went to do a Costco-run while Dave went to work, too. He only left for 30 minutes, and that was plenty of time, as we were looking at books, toys, and food, too. Dave met up with us as we were still shopping around. The kids each picked out a toy to donate for the less fortunate. We headed back home, and Brandon was excited to open up his gift from my mom to celebrate his friendship award from yesterday. Peyton was to go to sleep, but when I went to check on her, she was lying face down on her hands. She told me she was cold. I grabbed a blanket, and within 5 minutes, both of us were asleep. I woke up and she was still sleeping, with her mouth open 🙂 My parents and Brandon were watching the Big (Little) Game, which was a blow out. When we woke up, our game had already started, and it was a tied game at 7. We all watched the game, then ate 3 crabs that we got at Costco. After dinner, Brandon wanted to play my dad at chess. He lasted longer than he had in the past, but he was still reckless. I told Brandon he made it further than I did, as I used to get beaten in 4 moves. If you are clear that it is viagra canada price drscoinc.com time to relax and be happy. Striking this particular center generates similar effects in a sick person. cheap price viagra Once taken, its cialis generic 10mg effect can prevail from 5 to 6 hours. Blepharitis results from a malfunction of the oil glands the buy cialis of eyelids. After he lost the first game, he switched colors/sides, and they played again. After they were done, Brandon wanted to eat some more, so he had a yogurt. Peyton wanted to play, so she did next. She knows some of the opening moves, but this time, my dad did a four-move checkmate. She’s been better about losing, however my dad was kinda mean about it, and rubbed it in her face. He loudly shouted, “Checkmate! You lost!” She threw her face down on the chair was really upset, crying into her arms. We brought her back, and I made her shake hands with him and say, “Good game.” We set up the board again, and this time, she got parental support. So, Dave and I, and at times, Brandon, all weighed in on her second game. She lasted much longer, and though she still lost, she was in much better spirits. She even knocked her own king down, conceding, given it was her last piece against several others. My dad tried to make her feel better by telling her she lasted longer than Brandon, though he was playing solo. Brandon said he wanted to stay overnight. Dave knew he had to go back to work tomorrow, so neither of us complained. The problem was that he had no clothes there. My mom found a pair of size 5 pants for him. He actually fit the waist, buttoning them up with ease, but they were three inches short. He’s got such a skinny waist! He didn’t care, since he was so happy to be alone with the grandparents. Peyton didn’t mind either coming home with us. I think she likes being the only child, too. When we got home, later than normal, she took her shoes off, and arranged them. There’s also a picture of Peyton’s posture while shucking peanuts with my dad. She took over Brandon’s space after he went downstairs to watch a movie.

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So Much To Do!

Last night, my mom came in after the kids went to sleep. Dave was out bowling with co-workers, and he didn’t get home until “Zero dark thirty” (his words). This morning, Brandon woke up and got ready. He wanted to go downstairs and make breakfast on his own. I let him do that while the rest of us got ready. Brandon was getting an award today at school, but it was a surprise for him, so we didn’t want to make him think anything was out of the ordinary. I told Brandon that Daddy would take him to school, while I would take Peyton to school. While Brandon was packing up his bag, he was close to my mom’s room. He turned to me and said, “I heard keys in the closed room. Go open the door and go look.” I told him I didn’t want to as I hadn’t heard anything, but I told HIM to open the door and find out what the noise was. He just shook his head, grabbed his things, and headed out with Dave. Peyton saw some clothes, and she asked if they were for her. I told her that Grandma gave them to her. She just looked at me, and kept looking through the clothes. I told her GRANDMA gave them to her. She didn’t get it. Finally, I told her, “Hey, guess who’s here?” She looked at the front door, and said, “Grandma?” My mom was coming out of the bathroom (she went in while Peyton was eating breakfast, right in front of the door, but she’d missed her). Peyton turned around and around finally going to the back to inspect. She found my mom hiding in the bathroom. By then, we were running late to get to school, so we headed out. I still wanted to keep hidden from Brandon, so we waited until the class lined up before heading out behind them. We listened to the announcements, then they started with the kinders and on up. The award today was for Citizen of the Month – Friendship. There were four kids selected from the class – Brandon, Sean, Joelle, and Ayush. After their names were called, they headed over to take pictures with the teacher. Then, they headed back into their class line. After the assembly was done, I checked in with the teacher to get Brandon’s certificate so he wouldn’t wrinkle it. She told me she liked how shy Brandon got when he saw Grandma there. He shrunk away and told her, “My Grandma’s here.” I introduced my mom to Mrs Duorah and told her, “This is the REAL Mrs. Mah.” Actually, the REAL Mrs. Mah was my grandma, and then great grandma, but to me, my mom’s the Mrs. Mah that I know from her teacher-years. I congratulated Brandon, then they went back to class, while my mom and I took Peyton to school. She told me she would NOT cry. And she didn’t 🙂 I dropped my mom back off home, then I headed to the gym for about an hour. Dave was doing errands on his car, and he came home shortly after I did. We hung out, and then headed in our own cars to the school. We met at the book faire and bought some books for the kids. We headed to the conference as the teacher saw we were there. It was supposed to start at 1215 pm, and it was right on the dot when we arrived. Mrs D told us many nice things about how Brandon is doing in class. We went through the report card and found 3 things that we should focus on with him – increasing his focus and concentration, reading comprehension, and swimming, of all things. Mrs. D was excited to hear about Brandon’s chess inclination, and I even found a way to ask about how to place Peyton with Brandon’s kinder teacher.  Mrs D used to be a kinder teacher.  She suggested emailing the principal, but I didn’t want to be THAT parent and get on the principal’s bad side.  We’ll be with her (as long as she stays) for the next 6 years, so I’m hoping to preserve that relationship.  Mrs D said she’d make sure the “little birdie” would inform Ms Song, though it may be out of her control.  She said some kinder teachers like to have familiar families, so they can rely on them for transportation for field trips, etc.  I know Peyton would do well with any teacher, but knowing her personality, she would do better with one that she was familiar.  It would help Peyton feel more comfortable to open up and learn.  Mrs D told us of Brandon’s friendships, and she said all of her boys play well together.  She also told us that Brandon and Joelle had a little “thing” going on.  In fact, other kids had noticed and were teasing them, the “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” song. She had to talk to the kids about kissing and when it’s appropriate (no, they were NOT kissing, but they were being teased).  Brandon and Joelle can’t be editing partners, because they both are afraid/embarrassed to critique each other.  Brandon gets paired up with Cynthia, who tells it like it is, and Brandon does the same as there is no mutual “interest” like with Joelle.  Brandon is one of 3 kids in the class that can read an analogue clock. I told the teacher how on the weekends, Brandon will look at his watch and tell us all the things he would normally be doing in school.  “At 10 am, we have recess, then at 2 pm, we have social studies.”  He has a watch that my mom got him, and he’s been getting better at reading it.  I told the teacher that he practices while we’re in our Disneyland ride lines, to pass time.  Brandon is reading at the middle of the third grade level at this time.  We do have to slow him down, as he’s picking 5th grade level reading (Percy Jackson) or higher.  The librarian chose another series for the kids to read instead.  We were able to see the teacher’s gradebook (I don’t know why she showed us), but Brandon was also one of 3 kids to have all 5’s and have 100% next to his name (and I know why I looked, because I’m nosy and it’s hard not to, especially since I know all the kids in class).   She showed us one of his writing samples from our trip to Florida.  He wrote almost three pages about our trip, including our trip to LA with his cousins.  He had such detail, like he was blogging!  I saw something that said, “And at 11 am…”  We ended up spending almost 45 minutes with Mrs D!  I didn’t realize it’d been that long.  It was very thorough, and being that it was the last day of the conference week, we were the last to come to her.  Dave had moved it up from our original time so that he could wait after flag salute, and then go up to work.  Mrs D notices Brandon never shows/gets 1) tired, 2) hungry, 3) thirsty, or 4) cold.  I was telling Julie this afternoon that he sounds like a vampire!

The last thing Mrs D asked us was if we were taking Brandon to the book faire.  She said he’s been talking about it all day, and that he worried it’d close up before we could go.  I promised him I’d take him, so I grabbed him from CDC and took him to shop. He grabbed two books right away, and then we grabbed something for Peyton, too.  He got his spy pen, and then wanted to go back to CDC.  I headed in to work, and then left by 5 pm to get Peyton.  We went back to CDC for their first annual Thanksgiving feast.  It was nice to have all the families there.  Peyton sat with me, since she was trying to follow Brandon around and he was getting annoyed.  Finally, Brandon started to read a book, so Peyton wanted to read, too.  Akhil, a kindergartner from MA, came over, and we were reading together.  I wanted to give him an opportunity to read, so he was reading the left side, while Peyton was reading on her side.  He was struggling a bit, and I had to tell Peyton to let Akhil take his turn.  Finally, he lost interest, and Peyton started reading the rest of the book.  When the food was ready, we all dug in.  I got the kids turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes (they ate them!), and salad.  Both had water.  Brandon sat down, and Peyton sat on top of next to him.  I was going to sit next to Peyton, when a little girl took the seat and said, “My friend is sitting here.”  Excuse me!  So I stood nearby and watched the kids while they ate.  Since they were both hungry, I didn’t really have to do much, since they were just eating.  Peyton ate around her green beans and declared she didn’t like them.  Brandon ate everything, and then ate another full plate!  He also asked for chips and bean dip.  He is on the tail end of his dessert ban, and he knew he couldn’t have any.  He told me he lied to his friends and said, “I don’t want any dessert” instead of telling them he was on a ban. I told him it was okay to say that, and not have to share about the ban.  After Peyton was done, I gave her some apple pie, after she chose it over the pumpkin.  But Liam started playing his trombone, and Peyton looked up at me and said, “I don’t want this anymore.”  She threw it away and went over to where he was playing.  She sat on the chair and just gazed at him playing.  He moved to another room, and she followed him!  She LOVES music!!  Finally, he put it away, and she came back.  In fact, she came back to play with his little sister.  Liam is in the 4th grade, and one of Brandon’s friends.  Genevieve is his sister, and she’s in first grade, so two years older than Peyton, but both kids are on the small side, so they’re about the same size as each of our kids.  Genevieve is still taller than Peyton, but Brandon and Liam are about the same size.  I introduced Genevieve to Peyton, and they both played with a balloon, trying to make sure it stayed off the floor.  Brandon was still eating, while I was chatting with one of his friend’s mom.  Her son is in chess, too, and she’s the chess coordinator.  The twins’ family wasn’t there, which I was hoping for, to set up a playdate with Brandon and Wyatt.  After Brandon was done eating, I told him we were going to head out.  He said, “Oh, I have to say goodbye to Ms Alyssa!”  She’s the site coordinator.  He went around to the teachers and said bye and thank you. Peyton even got into it, thanking Ms Lillian, and waving goodbye.  I think she’ll do well there next year, since everyone, including Ms Alyssa, knows her now.  We got home, and Brandon finished up his lunch, and then they both went through the books we’d gotten at the faire.  Both were still up by the time Dave got home at 745 pm.  It’s a “late” night for them, as they’re both engrossed in reading at the moment.

Here’s Brandon’s video of his award:

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And the pictures with the four friends of room 30 (see Joelle?)

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Bilingual

Okay, so we’re not teaching them Chinese, but today, Peyton told me, “I like sábado and domingo the best. And also viernes. And martes.” I asked why she liked martes, since I knew why should would like Saturday, Sunday, and then Friday. She said, “Because, that’s when I go to Spanish!” She’s got the days of the week down, numbers to 30, and working on months of the year. Being cautious will be specifically significant while purchasing meds on the internet, because low quality medications might be dangerous for your present health. buy sildenafil viagra Enhanced levels of sperms are necessary to successfully impregnate a lady and parent click my pharmacy buy cheap levitra a child. If your penis is not enlarged with increased heartbeat then the heart would put more pressure which is harmful for the heart consumed by the diabetics can increase the chances of male impotence. ordine cialis on line For a person to have buy levitra in uk proper erections he needs to do is opens the sachet, place it in the mouth & gulp it down. She told me as of this week, she’s got her own month, January down. Also, February, since it’s Brandon’s birthday month. I have some Spanish workbooks that she’s been going through at night, and looks forward to them if she doesn’t have homework from school, or if there’s only a little bit.